For nine seasons, fans have tuned into “The Curse of Oak Island” to witness Rick and Marty Lagina’s quest for the greatest treasure find in history. Oak Island is a small and mysterious Canadian location that allegedly houses a legendary Money Pit full of some of the most unbelievable riches. No one has quite found this Money Pit yet, although it isn’t for a lack of trying. Oak Island has hosted numerous treasure hunter hopefuls with the Lagina brothers and their crew as the latest and perhaps most well-known.
“The Curse of Oak Island” is a reality show with its fair share of criticism from fans, whether it be a serving of frustrating contradictions or unwelcome changes among the cast. But the central premise has still made for solid TV. Fans have followed Rick’s journey with Oak Island since 2014 when the first season of the series aired on the History Channel. But while the show may have served as the first introduction to Rick’s obsession with the mysterious location, his interest in it goes much further back.
Rick’s obsession with the mysterious island began when he was a boy
Leave it to a fascinating article combined with a young imagination to cause a life-long obsession. That’s the case for Rick Lagina, as his intense interest in Oak Island happened thanks to Reader’s Digest. Via Daily Press, Lagina said that he read a 1965 Reader’s Digest story about the island, which immediately sparked his interest in the location and granted the young Rick with dreams of discovering archaic riches and artifacts supposedly buried there. Per Oak Island Treasure, the article is called “Oak Island’s Mysterious ‘Money Pit,'” and it was written by David MacDonald.
Honestly, reading MacDonald’s article, which details the island’s history of alleged treasures and the hunters who have tried to find it, we can see why it would be so influential on a young Rick. MacDonald does a tremendous job of highlighting Oak Island’s heavy air of mystery. Now according to History, Rick read the article when he was 11. Today, Rick is 69 years old (which would have actually made him 13 when the Reader’s Digest issue he read came out), but either way, that means that he’s been passionately thinking about Oak Island for close to six decades. That’s astounding considering how often children drop their hobbies by the time they hit high school.
Also, keep in mind that “island treasure hunter” isn’t exactly on a guidance counselor’s list of possible occupations. Yet, Rick didn’t start hunting on the island until much later in his life. According to History UK, he and his brother Marty began searching in 2006, after they purchased a 50% stake in Oak Island Tours, the business that technically owns Oak Island.